Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 58,728 Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,566,053 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,728 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.19% of BJ's Wholesale Club worth $129,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 158.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,189,932 shares of the company's stock worth $368,044,000 after buying an additional 2,571,709 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in BJ's Wholesale Club by 7.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,357,118 shares of the company's stock worth $1,184,175,000 after acquiring an additional 966,528 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 60.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,387,592 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,929,000 after acquiring an additional 896,263 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 4,834.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 625,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,567,000 after purchasing an additional 612,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of BJ's Wholesale Club by 143.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 848,000 shares of the company's stock worth $74,488,000 after purchasing an additional 499,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $75.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BJ's Wholesale Club from $92.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Melius Research assumed coverage on BJ's Wholesale Club in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on BJ's Wholesale Club from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of BJ's Wholesale Club from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BJ's Wholesale Club news, CEO Robert W. Eddy sold 11,000 shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.47, for a total value of $940,170.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 423,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,221,502.24. The trade was a 2.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BJ's Wholesale Club Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club stock traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $93.77. 2,894,465 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,514,540. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $91.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.69 and a beta of 0.29. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $64.06 and a one year high of $100.74.

BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.29. BJ's Wholesale Club had a net margin of 2.71% and a return on equity of 35.41%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. BJ's Wholesale Club's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BJ's Wholesale Club Company Profile

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides groceries, general merchandise, gasoline and other ancillary services, coupon books, and promotions. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app.